At least 9 Turkish soldiers were killed and eight others wounded on Friday after an attack by armed members of the PKK terrorist group in the northern regions of Iraq bordering Turkey, where the Turkish Armed Forces have maintained a large military deployment in recent years to prevent terrorists from entering Turkish territory.
In a statement issued late on Friday, the Turkish Defence Ministry informed that the fighting occurred when a group of PKK members tried to penetrate the area where the Turkish military was deployed; the wounded were immediately transferred by helicopter to military hospitals in Turkey, the statement said, adding that one of them later died despite the efforts of medical teams, while three others are in critical condition.
At least 15 PKK members were killed in response by Turkish forces, the Turkish Defence Ministry added in the statement. While 5 Turkish soldiers were initially reported killed in the attack, media outlets such as NTV news channel later raised the death toll to 9, indicating that the attack took place in the Metina region against a temporary military base set up by the 41st Kırklareli Comando Brigade, and that the terrorists used heavy weapons and took advantage of the harsh weather conditions in the region, currently covered by snow and subjected to heavy blizzards.
This incident comes just three weeks after 12 Turkish soldiers were killed in two separate attacks by the PKK terrorist group on a military base in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq. Since April 2022, when Turkey launched the Pençe Kilit Operation (Claw-Lock), the Turkish military has maintained a significant military presence in the northern Iraqi mountains bordering Turkey, where the PKK‘s main camps are concentrated, and has built dozens of military posts and bases to prevent infiltration by the armed group into Turkish territory.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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